Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg (born October 5, 1983) is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000. After his first leading role in the film Roger Dodger (2002), he appeared in such films as The Emperor's Club (2002), The Squid and the Whale (2005) and The Education of Charlie Banks (2007). In 2004, Eisenberg was honored with the Vail Film Festival Rising Star Award. In 2009, he started in a comedy- drama Adventure-land and the horror comedy Zombieland. He also started in Holy Rollers (2010) which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and play the voice of Blu in the animated film Rio (2011), and started in 30 Minutes or Less (2011). He'll play the voice of Blu again in Rio 2 (2014) which is scheduled in 2014. Early life Jesse was born in Queens, New York City and the son of Amy and Barry Eisenberg. Eisenberg grew up in Queens and East Brunswick Township, New Jersey who he attending the East Brunswick Public Schools at Frost School, Hammarskjold Middle School, Churchill Junior High School and spending his sophomore year at East Brunswick High School. Eisenberg struggled to fit in at school and began acting in plays at the age of 10, stating "when playing a role, I would feel more comfortable, as you're given a prescribed way of behaving. Eisenberg studied contemporary architecture at The New School in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. Originally, he had applied and was accepted to New York University, but declined enrollment in order to complete a film role. Career Eisenberg's first professional role was in Arje Shaw's off-Broadway play "The Gathering". Eisenberg made his Broadway debut as an understudy in a 1996 revival of Summer and Smoke. He made his screen debut in the 1999 television series "Get Real" which was canceled in 2000. In 2001, Eisenberg appeared in a Dr. Pepper commercial in the UK. After appearing in the made-for-television film Lightning: Fire from the Sky, he starred in the independent film Roger Dodger (for which he won an award at the San Diego film festival and in The Emperor's Club, both of which were released in 2002 to generally positive reviews. In 2005, Eisenberg appeared in Cursed, a horror film directed by Wes Craven and The Squid and the Whale, a well-reviewed independent drama also starring Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels. In 2007, he starred with Richard Gere and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party, a comic thriller in which he plays a young journalist in Bosnia. In 2009, Eisenberg played the lead role in Adventureland, a comedy directed by Greg Mottola and filmed in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Filming ended in October 2007, Adventureland and the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. In November 2007, Eisenberg was cast in the comic-drama, "Holy Rollers". He played a young Hasidic Jew who gets lured into becoming an ecstasy dealer. Filming took place in New York in 2008. During the late 2000s, he also had roles in the independent films Solitary Man, playing Cheston and Camp Hope, a horror film directed by George Van Buskirk. Eisenberg's breakthrough starring role was as the neurotic Columbus in Zombieland. The horror comedy, which paired him with Woody Harrelson on a roadtrip through a post-zombie apocalypse America, was a surprise hit. In 2010, he starred alongside Andrew Garfield in the role of Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg in the film The Social Network which he earned the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and nominations for Best Actor at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. On November 22, 2010, Eisenberg was honored, along with Whoopi Goldberg, Joycelyn Engle and Harvey Krueger, at the Children at Heart Celebrity Dinner Gala and Fantasy Auction, to benefit The Children of Chernobyl. Steven Spielberg is Chair of the event each year. On January 29, 2011, Eisenberg hosted Saturday Night Live on NBC with musical guest, Nicki Minaj. During his opening monologue, Eisenberg was joined by Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg. In 2011, he starred in the box-office animated hit Rio, as the main character Blu, a Spix's macaw who learns how to fly, starring with Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Jake T. Austin, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, will.i.am and Jamie Foxx. He contributed his singing voice for one of the songs in the soundtrack, "Real in Rio". He also starred in "30 Minutes or Less", released August 2011. Category:Cast and Crew from Rio Category:Cast and Crew from Rio 2